Motor-vehicle.



E. P. UOWLES.

MOTOR VBHIULB. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. s, 1901'.

Patented J an. 21, 1913 4 SHEBTSSHEET 1.

. E. P. COWLES.

MOTOR VEHICLE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 6, 1901.

Patented Jan. 21, 1913 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

@mifw "ZMJ/MMQQJW I V M E. P. COWLES; MOTOR VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. a, 1901.

LQEEfilQI Patented Jan.21,1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

B. 1P. OOWLES.

MOTOR VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. e, 1901 1,050,810. Patented Jal1 .21,1913

Q/vihwoou Fil ll l 3 WARREN, OHEO, ASS

CQM'PANY, (3F LlLETBQIT, MICHIGALJ E.

IGNOR, BY MEk'EW'I'I ASSIGNMENTS, Tl

.lpolica Espeeifieeiion of Letters Yaient.

tion filed September 6', 1

Plowman P. ()oivirs, iluiied Slides residing iii ilurouuty oil lljl'lllillfilll, Stain .l'i'i, imrnled (Qlllllll new and. use rwnaeute in Mol-or-Vehicles, oi

ilow' is a speoifimuiion.

nion relates to improve orrehioles and "p: rl'iculzu'l): to wowed -ii'EiFllllg Wheel hub and means the some.

accompanying drmviugs, Figure l :7 side elevation of ii motor vehicle pro- 'gl wheelhulis constructed in 2166 with he present invention; Fig. a veriiczil seciion llir'ough :1 Mooring lu l) cunstzuclioi'l in a'ccordiincc with vcnion and EL portion of the axle; 2: similar view through a driving 4: is a similar 'VlGW through a hub d for both, shearing and driving; Fig. View showing the hub illuslrzited in partly in section a portion of he tion and the conneeiing mecha- 1min; Figs. 6, T, and 8, are views ll Similar hub having a dili'crenlly conneei'ed trunnion fork and an inner end View of the hub l i ,i 118 drawing there. is illus- :i motor vehicle comprising a suitable 3118 which is supported on a fume froiiit steering Wheels 8 and rear wheels 8. The running gem-:01" 5 frame of uhevehicle lllI1Sl";il(!(l, v. forwzm'l or front tubule" axle xle 81 made hollow and through udriving :ahnfts for i'he rear Wheels;

l axles being;- ooni'iecred by tubui ji. The ooi'meelions belween and uxlo are ElllOWD as foru'icd l simped couplings 87 in ucli inns and axles are free to "lily ll arrange the member of f-i'ronplings through which The page above the member through j as slii'iwn. Their part all of the reach bars couplings 85 is lowing}; :l&lll\l(:i' 85 (he em? of the coupling. a nut and he oppoinie l l l i l l l traded and l meclnmism for motor vehicle but In; such. i ezi'li'uos are nol included in the claims, :1 :mwrilie description their f is not considered necessary. The petemoole features illusnot herein claimed are reserved for olilie applications. The steering wheels illustrated in the drawings are of that form or type in which the Inn-in. axle or wheel support is fixed and the Wheel dapled to film, to guide. the vehicle. on joints or steering lnumlzles arranged at or near the central revolving plane of the wheel Referring particularly to Figs. 2, 5', 9, it will be soc-n that each steeriii'ig hu composed of Two hollow cylinders 2 placed com-eniricully one Wi and joined by :1 Web or locked to the cylinder The inner o linder 3 is what may be formed the bearing nim'nher, correspoiuling lo the box or diuary construction Sleeve in hubs oi or The outside cylinder receives the Wheel Spokes which can be of Wire, as shown, or 5 designates 0% any oil'u'r suitable material 1' trunnion, the base 6 of lhe :zxlc journal 0 which in these views is formed in the cup shape shown, exl'euding entirely around the axle and inlo the hub between the two cylinders 2, 3. it it's free end this cup shaped member of i'he'axle is' provided with two short iruunions 7, 7, 211' winged diametrically opposite each other. The said trunnions 7, T, or arranged in the some "crtical planes, lllQll' axes being in the control plane of r0- lation of the wheel. Said trunnions extend into and have hearings in eyes formed in the upper and lower arms or branches 9, 9, of a fork which is zi'l'tziched to the end of .the stationary or fixed mile 10 by a divided socket 11. It iq obvious that by this c0nsli'uctiou the wheel while being held rigidly iuiirighli is free to turn laterally on u verti- 'cal axis which lies in the central plane of rotation of the wheel and that the tendency of the Wheel. to be deflected from its proper course by contact with obstructions is reand b is 5 thin the oi'her pider .lwhich is (lured to a minimum. i

To give the furl; 9', tho necessary strength without making it undesirably hem-y (he upper and lowe. members thereof are prm 'ided at their free ends will) arms 12, 12, respeeiivelyi These arms, 5W0 from each fork uieniber, extend about the con Shaped portion 6, of the axle and are bolted l'ogeizhei. :u'; 13 where {hey nieei in the central both members of the fork are caused to equally sustain the weight on the axle and by making the arms 12, 12, integral with .the fork they form in'connection \with the socket- 11 a rigid parallelogram and the truss principle is made available to multiply their united strength. By this arrangement the fork can be made very light and have abundance of strength. 7

It will be observed that the steering Wheels, when outside of the curve they are turning, swing laterally much less than when inside, by reason of the necessity of their revolving planes being always tangential to concentric circles) By placing'the fork arms 9, 9, a little forward of the rotating axis of the wheel, shown by dotted lines 1a in Fig. 9, the line 14: indicating the central plane of the fork, and by making their outsidesurfaces 1'5'conform to the inner face of the outside cylinder 2 of the hub when turned laterally to their extreme limit, I am able to get the largest section of arms 9, 9', with a minimum diameter of hub and also to make-- said arms of the triangular section shown in Fig. 9, which is well adapted to resist lateral strains on said arms.

By cupping the base 6. of axle journal as shown and making the axle trunnion 5, cup 6,-and trunnions 7, 7, of one piece, the

sides of cup 6 are made available to sustain and stiffen the trunnions 7, 7, and I am able to flatten the upper and lower side ofcup 6; as at 17, and bring the fork arms 9, 2, relatively near together. By making the fork in two parts, the ends of arms 9, 9", can be placed over the fixed trunnions and the eyes at the ends of arms 9, 9, can be made solid. This connection with a one-piece axle trunnion, described above, makes it possible to construct a strong steering knuckle inside of the wheel hub with a sufficiently long pivot to give the wheel stability and to make-the steering knuckle very compact and light, without. materially increasing the diameter of the hub ever that ordinarily employed.

The steering hub hereinbefore described is adapted to any kind of bearing. Preferably I use a combined ball and plain hearing, the ball bearings 18, 18, of which are of the usual form. The bearing cylinder 3 of the hub has a bronze ring or sleeve 19 fitted therein near its inner end, which sleeve bears against the surface of the axle. 5, or the ball racesleeve which surrounds the axle. About't-he ball race and iam nut of the ball bearing 18 is fitted another bronze ring 20 which contacts with the inner surface of the outer end. of the bearing cylin der 3. These plain bearings ordinarily are inoperative but under great strains; they asslst the ball bearings, and. when lli'llm' or both ball bearings are disabled the plain bearings will do all the work. I

The rear wheels of an automobile by reason of their function of both driving and carrying the most weight are much more subject to wear and liable to be disabled than the front wheels, and it often happens that a rear wheel tire which has become so much worn that it would soon be useless on a driving wheel would last indefinitely on a front or steering wheel. It is a great advantage therefore to have steering and drivin -wheels interchan cable I accomplish this-desirable end by orniing on the web 4 which connects the two hub cylinders 2, 3,

a boss 21 that is bored ouli so as to fit closely over the outer end of the bearing cylinder 3. This boss is provided with an inwardly projecting flange the inner face of which is provided with teeth or projections that interlock with projections 3, on' the cylinder 3. A cap nut 22, threaded on the outer endof the cylinder forces and retains the boss 21 firmly in place. The rear driving axle 23, Fig. 3, may as shown, have its outer end enlarged by a spool 24, the outside diameter of which is accurately the same as the diameter of the outer end of cylinder 3 of the steering wheel hub so that the boss 21 of any wheel will fit either the cylinder 3 or the spool 24. The rotating motion of driving axle 23 can be transmitted to the boss 21 by a feather or key, or any other suitable means, but I prefer to provide the inner end of the spool 24, adjacent the roller bearings 27, with a lfiangc or shoulder 26, which is provided n its outer face with a series of teeth or projections adapted to engage with teeth or projections 25, on the boss 21 of the hub; and

which are engaged by the teeth 3 when the.

hub is applied to a steering axle. A cap nut 22, similar to 22 holds the teeth on the. boss 24 in engagement with those on shoulder 26 By simply removing nuts 22, 22, the wheels can be interchanged, or in case of extended journeys an extra wheel carried on the carriage can be quickly and conveniently put on to replace a disabled one, without disthe steering lever shall produr-e a corresponding movement of the steering wheels. For this reuson it is necessary that the ful- (ruins of the various levers have rigid metal connections"and that the joints-lie kept free from dust to avoid wear To s This also has the efiect of giving the front 1 lie 'er "i at;

std

this e ng mechanism inside the front axle 10 non. IS a single tube of large diameter.

axle a more rods, levers, scaled.

As shown in Figs. 2, and two lugs or progections 28 on the base 6 of the axle "trunnion 5 are connected by links 29 to a curved lever-'31, said links and lever being pivotally connected at 30. The lever 31 (see Fig. 5) is pivoted at one end, as at 32, to the socket 11, the other end of said lever bein pivoted at 33 to a rod 34 which is connecte to the operating mechanism not shown and which may be of any suitable character.

symmetrical appearance: as the etc, usually exposed are conlever is between bring the wheel near strain on socket joint 11. The'ection of curved lever 31. and base 6 of axle trunnion is practically the same as two gears lntermeshing, links 29 taking the place of gear teeth, and in Fig. 6, this toothed arrangement is shown. Referring to said figure, and also to Figs. 7 and 8, it will be noted that the outer edge of the curved lever'3l is provided with teethfil and the end of the base G ls provided with a segmental rack 6* meshing with the teeth upon the lever. In said figures, is shown a modified form of trunnion base C of being cup-shaped and surrounding the axle sleeve, is forked, as clearly shown in Figs. 7 and 8. The inner side 6 of each fork arm is curved to conform to the curvature of the axle sleeve, while the outer sides 6 are flat and parallel, thus giving'them practically a channel iron cross section. lly giving the fork arms a channel iron section, and making them integral with the axle, base and trunnions, it is possible to obtain suiiicient strength and stiffness within small space and leave the entire space between the hub cylinders, at the sides, through which the arms 12, 12 extend, cl .ar. By this arrangement it is possibleto provide a strong and durable center steerii hub of compact size which will not be unbly heavy. Many forms of; hubs of this character have been heretofore pro- U posed, but have, after practical tests, been found unsatisfactory because they were easily broken or disarrangcd and it heavy enough to have the desired strength were large ans clumsy. According to the present invention, however, all of these objections are overcome.

The axles shown are formed ofjtubes which may be reinforced by rings 99. In addition. to being clamped to the front 5 axle in the mannerdescribed, the fork of nd 1 place practically all of the 31 which is practicallya right angled made of the form shown and passes links 29 and lugs 28 in order to.

as possible to the end of the fixed axle and reduce thewhich instead engaged with which is surrounded by a clamp nut 98 and the roller race 101 is threaded on said axle as shown, reinforcing rings 99 "being also arranged within the axle adjacent said race. The drivingshalt't 23, or 83, extends through the rear axle, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The latter figure illustrates a slightly difierent form'of hub and connection between the hub and axle than that shown in the other ,figures. In this form of hub the driving axle 83 is connected with the interior of a hollow Ihub body 151 by a universal joint arranged'in the central plane of the revolution of the wheel and permitting the latter, while receiving the rotating power of the driving axle, to oscillate freely ineither direction. The inner end of the tubular body .151 of'thehub engages a sway'blo'ok' 153 having a horizontal slot 154- sliding on the axle. This holds the wheel rigidly upright, while allowing it to oscillate to con-- form to the direction of the motion of the vehicle.

Having described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters- Patent is,

1. In. a motor vehicle, the combination with a stationary axle, of a wheel hub consisting of two connected and concentrically arranged members, a horizontal trunnion extending through the inner of said tubular hub members, bearings arranged between said horizontal trunnion and inner hub" member, two vertical trunnions formed in- .tegral with't he horizontal trunnion and supported from the axle between said tubular hubanembers, and means for adjusting the hub about the axis of said vertical trunnions;

2. In a motor vehicle, the combination with an axle, of a wheel hub consistingof two concentrically arranged. members, a forked trunnion support provided with an integral horizontal trunnion extending into the inner hub member and with armsextending into the space between said hub members, above and below the inner hub member, and having their inner faces grooved or channeled to conform to the ad- ]acent surface of such inner hub member, the arms being of such width as not to obstruct the spaces between the sides of the hub members and provided with integral vertical trunnions, bearings for said ver tical trunnions supported on the axle, and means for adjusting the hub about said vertical trunnions.

3. In a motor vehicle, the combination with an axle. of a wheel hub consisting of two concentrically arranged members, a forked trunnion support connected with the 'with an axle, ofanwheel hub consisting of two concentrlcally arranged members, a

trnnnions, bearings for said vertical trun' nions supported on the axle, and arms extendin about the inner hub member, in said spaces etween the sides of the hub. members,

and connecting said bearings for the vertical trunnions.-

fir. In a motor vehicle, the combination with an axle, of a wheel hub consisting of two concentrically arranged members, a forked trunnion support having its arms extending into the space between said hub members, above and below the inner hub member, said arms being of such width as not to obstruct the spaces between the sides of the hub members and provided at or near their ends with integral vertical trunnions, a horizontal trunnion carried byvsaid trunnion support and extending into the inner hub member, and a separable fork secured to the axle and extending into the space between the hub members, said axle fork having formed in each member an eye, entirely, surrounded by the solid body of the member, to receive one of said vertical trunnions; dine motor vehicle, the combination fo -lied trunnion support having its arms exis. ding into the .space betweensaid hub members, above and below the inner hub member said arms being of such width as not to o struct the spaces between the sides of the hub members and provided at or near their ends with integral vertical trunnions, a horizontal trunnion carried by said trunnion supportand extendin intothe inner hub member, a separable for secured to the axle and extending into" the space between the hub" members, said axle fork having formedm each member an eye, entirely surrounded by the solid body of the member,

- to receive one of said vertical trunnions, and arms extending about the inner hub member,

in the spaces between the sidesiof the hub members and connecting the arms of the axle fork in the plane of the eyes therein.

6. In a motor vehicle, the combination with a stationary axle, of a wheel hub consisting of two tubular detachably connected and concentrically arranged, members, spindle extending into said hub from the inner end thereof, a support for said spindle bent on opposite sides thereof to enter the space between the aforesaid hub members and'provided within said hub with two verticaltrunnions arranged at diametrically opposite points, a fork secured to the axle and having eyes entirely surrounded. by the solid body of the fork into which said vertical trunnions extend, and means for adjustingthe hub about said vertical trunnions.

7. In a motor vehicle the con'ibination with a stationary axle, of a wheel hub con-- sisting of two connected and concentrically arranged tubular members, a trunnion support extending over the inner member of the hub, a splndle arranged within the hub and secured at its inner end to said support, a fork secured to the axle and having the outer ends of its arms extending into the space between the members of the hub, two vertical trunnions carried by said trunnion support and extending into apertures in the arms of said fork, bearings interposed between the spindle and inner hub member, a supplemental ring hearing between said spindle and inner huh member, and means for adjusting the hub about said vertical trunnions.

8. Ina motor vehicle, the conibii'iation of a tubular axle, a horizontally movable trunnion at the end of the axle, a steering wheel. upon said trunnion, a pair of inwardly projecting ears at the base of said trunnion, a

curved lever fulcrumed at one side of the axle and hit-mg its free end extending into the end-oi the axle, links connecting said? lever with the steering. wheel and a reciprocative rod for actuating said lever arranged within and extending longitudinally of the ads;

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' I EDWARD I. COWLES=' Witnesses: E

, G. K. I CANFIsLn,

HOMER E. STEWART. 

